


Free fall

by annathecrow



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Day is a thing, Bets & Wagers, Chance Meetings, F/F, Ficlet, Kissing, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-01
Updated: 2014-09-01
Packaged: 2018-02-15 15:15:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2233746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annathecrow/pseuds/annathecrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That was the rule - don’t plan. Drift. Take a chance, turn on a different corner every time, don’t analyze or look for weak spots in everything and everyone. (...) It was a game, perhaps. A challenge to herself, to see if what she can do. Wake up, look into the mirror, decide who you want to be today. Not to fit a scene, to lure in a mark, but because the sky has the right color and you woke up from a dream with a song playing in your ear.</p>
<p>“Hey! Merry Avengers day or something! I just bet my friends 20 bucks, wanna help me win? (...) I bet I’ll kiss the first person I meet on the street. So... what’s your stance on locking lips with random strangers?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Free fall

**Author's Note:**

> I regret nothing.

Natasha didn’t plan this. That was the rule - don’t plan. Drift. Take a chance, turn on a different corner every time, don’t analyze or look for weak spots in everything and everyone.

After SHIELD fell, Natasha had all the time in the world, just for herself. For the first time in her life, she was a free agent... and it was terrifying. It felt like a free fall. But Natasha didn’t get where she was now because she ran from a challenge. She stood against aliens and monsters and super-humans and didn’t run away. She wouldn’t run now.

So, the rule. It was a game, perhaps. A challenge to herself, to see what she can do. Wake up, look into the mirror, decide who you want to be today. Not to fit a scene, to lure in a mark, but because the sky has the right color and you woke up from a dream with a song playing in your ear.

It was two months since the Triskellion attack, and maybe a month of that on this trip. If nothing else, Natasha reasoned, being unpredictable meant less chance of getting caught by some undesirable existence.

Today, though, put something of a damper on her mood. The anniversary of the Chitauri attack became something of a national holiday in the last years - if anything else, people always took an opportunity to get drunk and wear silly clothes.

Initially, Natasha didn’t plan to go out. She slept in, holed up in a cheap but clean tourist hotel in San Francisco, reading a book she picked up in a bargain bin on the way from the airport. But then, late in the afternoon fireworks started to come off somewhere in the neighborhood. She ignored it at first, but the sounds were tugging at her memories and after a while, she couldn’t stand being cooped up any longer.

She rummaged through her clothes, most of them bought when she arrived into the city. The weather was uncommonly warm for this time of the year, but the night would still be chilly. She pulled her old pair of jeans, and a simple white blouse. She reached for a leather jacket, another of the few pieces of clothes she brought with her from DC, but then picked up a brightly patterned knee length coat she found in a second hand shop.

The tiny room didn’t have full-length mirror, so she checked her outfit in the small bathroom mirror. She chuckled to herself. What kind of Natasha could this person be? She swiped her hair into a tight bun, the kind Maria favored and she never did. Just for the challenge.

She left the hotel, waving at the non-responsive receptionist, and made her way down the streets, away from the unseen firework enthusiasts. The festivities were in full swing - music and voices sounded from bars and windows, and now and then the party just spilled on the street, people sitting on the curb, drinking or dancing. The neighborhood seemed already a few steps on the path of gentrification, a dilapidated house flanked by a specialty tea shop here, a fancy car parked in front of graffiti-ed wall there.

The sound of firework was now far enough to not grate on her nerves anymore. Natasha slowed down to a leisurely pace, looking out for something interesting to pass time with. As the last month taught her, something always came up.

As if to prove it, suddenly a bar just ahead of her disgorged a hollering group of people. A girl tore away from them - young, laughing, and obviously drunk. She looked around and when she noticed Natasha, she waved off her friends and headed towards her. She wobbled a little and her dark hair swung into her face, tangling with her thick-rimmed glasses. She wore short silver skirt over red tights, and a tank top with a glitter encrusted slogan that read “CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAMMER?”

The obviously Thor-themed get-up made Natasha snicker. Instead of avoiding the girl, she let her approach her, smiling a little and waiting for her to speak.

The girl stopped in front of Natasha and looked her over, not exactly subtle. Her wide grin suddenly turned a little bashful.

“Come on, Darcy!!!” one of her friends yelled.

The girl - Darcy? - disentangled a stray strand of hair from her glasses and smiled at Natasha.

“Hey! Merry Avengers day or something! I just bet my friends 20 bucks, wanna help me win?” she smiled at Natasha.

“And why would I want to do that?” Natasha asked with a small smile of her own.

“Because you’re nice?” Darcy grinned at Natasha hopefully.

Natasha snorted. “You didn’t even tell me what would I have to do yet.”

“KISS HER!” a voice from her group hollered.

“Shut up!!!” Darcy spun to yell at her invisible friend. She turned back to Natasha, face red. “Um, yeah. I bet I’ll kiss the first person I meet on the street. So... what’s your stance on locking lips with random strangers?” she drawled and smiled again, embarrassed but obviously determined to get an answer.

Natasha, to her amusement and surprise, found herself charmed by the girl. She used to play a girl like that now and then, sweet and carefree and a little coy, but Darcy’s boldness made it less perfect, more real.

“Hmmm, so you get a kiss, and you get 20 dollars?” she quirked her eyebrow at Darcy, smirking. “What’s in it for me?”

“I can buy you a drink?” Darcy offered.

“Maybe... but what if you’re a bad kisser? I’d definitely need more than a drink.” Natasha thought aloud.

“Well you’ll just have to find out, won’t you?” Darcy waggled her eyebrows at Natasha suggestively.

“So I kiss you, and then I’ll ask what I want...” Natasha said.

Darcy scrunched her face, thinking. Natasha tried to not find it too adorable. “...that sounds like that kind of deal that always ends badly in stories,” she told her.

“It’s your choice,” Natasha shrugged.

Darcy looked her in the eyes for a moment. Then she seemed to make her decision. She closed the space between them with a few steps. Then she took Natasha’s face into her hands and planted a soft close-mouthed kiss on her lips. She was holding her lightly, leaving Natasha chance to get away.

Natasha... didn’t really want to. Take control of the situation, nagged a part of her brain though, the one that would never really stop being a spy.

Well, then, Natasha thought.

She took Darcy by the waist to pull her closer and opened her mouth to deepen the kiss. Darcy made a small sound of surprise but went along eagerly. Her fingers glided over Natasha’s cheeks, then tangled with her hair, pulling strands loose from her updo. Her lips were soft and tasted of some fruity drink as she explored Natasha’s mouth with her tongue and gently nipped at her lips. Natasha sighed into the kiss and felt something inside her melt in the warmth of it. Somewhere far away she heard someone whooping and whistling, but didn’t pay attention to it, just let herself go and enjoyed the sensation, the world shrinking into here and now.

After a long moment Darcy reluctantly broke the kiss. They pulled apart slowly, as if neither really wanted to take her hands of the other. Natasha certainly didn’t. She tried to corral her thoughts back into some semblance of order, but looking at Darcy didn’t really help her focus. Darcy was watching her with wide eyes and slightly dazed expression. Her hair was falling every which way and her lips were swollen red from the kiss. Natasha licked her own lips instinctively and Darcy’s eyes dropped down to follow the movement.

Then Darcy took a deep breath, stepped back and shook her head, seemingly trying to clear her thoughts. A smile slowly bloomed on her face.

“So, not a bad kisser, mm?” she teased.

“Not bad,” Natasha answered. Better then Steve, she thought, and had to bite her tongue to stop herself from telling Darcy just that.

Darcy smiled wider, looking pleased with herself. “What’s the verdict, then? Will a drink be enough of a payment?” she asked.

Natasha tilted her head to the side, thinking. “We can start with that. Then... we’ll see. “

Darcy laughed out in delight. She stuck out a hand to Natasha. “You probably already heard, but... name’s Darcy. Darcy Lewis.”

“Natasha,” she answered and shook her hand. Maybe she should’ve told her an alias, she wondered belatedly. Apparently her brain still wasn’t working at one hundred percent.

Darcy raised her eyebrows and pouted a little. “I don’t get the last name?”

Natasha smirked. “And what would I get for that?”

Darcy took her hand and pulled her towards the bar. “Come on! First the spoils, then the drink, and then I’m going to find out what can I do for you to pay for that name,” she winked at Natasha.

Natasha laughed and let herself be dragged. Maybe plan a little bit, she thought smugly.

**Author's Note:**

> (I'm still picking out typos and mistakes, sorry if the fic pretends it was updated.)


End file.
